Classic Personal Computer (PC) Games

Pirates! is Sid Meier’s firt foray into Strategy Gaming. Before Pirates! he was mainly involved in simulation games such as F-15 Strike Eagle and Silent Service. Just for that, this game deserves it’s place in history being the first attempt at strategy games of arguably THE GREATEST STRATEGY GAME DESIGNER OF ALL TIME. If not for Pirates! we may not have Railroad Tycoon, Colonization, Alpha Centauri, and of course Civilization I, II, III, and IV!

This game is so good, every other Pirate game after it had to live up to its gameplay…all the way up to the present day, over twenty years since the game was first released. If that isn’t an impressive achievement, I don’t know what is. The real brain boggler is what exactly makes this game so good. Somehow everything just came together perfectly…game balance, storyline, replayability, everything. Arcade swordplay, ship-to-ship warfare, morale management, and romantic interludes with various governor’s daughters all blend seamlessly into a very immersive experience that you’d like to play over and over.